16. Plagiarism and Referencing

Queen Mary University of London expects all students to uphold the highest standards of academic integrity and ethical conduct in their studies. Engaging in academic misconduct undermines the value of your work and the integrity of the institution.

What Is Academic Misconduct?

Academic Misconduct refers to actions or working methods that undermine academic integrity during an assessment task or educational activity. Academic misconduct includes actions that undermine the integrity and/or purpose of an assessment, provide students with undue advantage over others, or undermine the educational standards and reputation of Queen Mary.  

This includes, but is not limited to:

  • Plagiarism, including self-plagiarism
  • Examination offences
  • Falsification or fraudulent reporting of sources or data
  • The submission of work, or sections of work, for assessment in more than one module or assignment (including work previously submitted for assessment at another institution)
  • Collusion (in the preparation or production of submitted work)
  • Use of third parties, including ghost-writing services
  • Impersonation or use of impersonators in assessments

Definition of Plagiarism (including self-plagiarism)

Queen Mary defines plagiarism as: “presenting someone else’s work as your own, irrespective of intention.  This includes close paraphrasing, copying from the work of another person, including another student or using the ideas of another person without proper acknowledgement. Self-plagiarism includes repeating work that you have previously submitted – at Queen Mary or at another institution – without proper acknowledgement.”

Definition of Collusion

Queen Mary defines ‘collusion’ as any illegitimate cooperation between students in the preparation or production of submitted work, irrespective of intention. Unless such joint work is explicitly permitted by the relevant assessment guidance, students must ensure that any work submitted for individual assessment is entirely their own. Collusion is considered to be academic misconduct because it involves working practices that do not align with the expectations or instructions of the task and undermine the validity of the results as a reflection of individual students’ achievement.

Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) 

Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) refers to the use of AI-powered tools that generate or substantially modify content, including text, images, audio, video, translations, computer code, data analysis or other outputs in response to user instructions or prompts.

Students must not use Generative Artificial Intelligence in assessed work unless explicit permission has been provided.

Unauthorised or unacknowledged text manipulation that undermines the integrity of an assessment, including the use of paraphrasing software, generative artificial intelligence, or machine translation tools, such that the work submitted cannot be considered wholly the student's own, constitutes academic misconduct. This is because it undermines the validity of the assessment and provides an undue or unfair advantage over students who have completed the assessment in accordance with the requirements.

Any suspected unauthorised use of Generative Artificial Intelligence will be investigated under the Academic Integrity and Misconduct Policy.  
Please see the following QM+ course to review and complete no later than 6 November: AI for Student Learning and Research 2026/27

Consequences of Academic Misconduct

Academic misconduct is a serious offence. If suspected, you will be subject to formal investigation.
Possible penalties include:

  • Formal reprimand
  • Failing the module
  • Capping the module mark at the minimum pass mark
  • Suspension or expulsion from the programme

Please note that academic misconduct investigations must be conducted thoroughly and fairly. As a result, investigations may take time to complete, particularly where additional evidence needs to be reviewed or further enquiries are required.

While an investigation is ongoing, the confirmation and publication of official results for the relevant module will normally be withheld. Students with unresolved allegations of academic misconduct cannot be considered by the School's Subject Examination Board until the investigation has concluded. Consequently, results, progression decisions and recommended awards cannot be released until the investigation has been completed and an outcome determined.

Students should also be aware that investigations cannot be expedited at an individual student's request, as sufficient time must be allowed for a full and fair review of the case.

For full details, refer to the Academic Integrity & Misconduct Policy.

Avoiding Plagiarism: Best Practices

Plagiarism is considered to be serious misconduct and all students suspected of plagiarism will be subject to an investigation. If found to have been committed, outcomes can include failure of the module or an outcome with more severe implications depending on the circumstances of the case. The full range of outcomes can be found in the Policy.

 It is your responsibility to ensure that you understand plagiarism and how to avoid it. The recommendations below can help you in avoiding plagiarism.

 Be sure to record your sources when taking notes, and to cite these if you use ideas or, especially, quotations from the original source. Be particularly careful if you are cutting and pasting information between two documents, and ensure that references are not lost in the process.

  • Be sensible in referencing ideas – commonly held views that are generally accepted do not always require acknowledgment to particular sources. However, it is best to be safe to avoid plagiarism.
  • Be particularly careful with quotations and paraphrasing. Quotations need to be recorded accurately, and references are required when paraphrasing someone else’s ideas.
  • Be aware that technology, such as Turnitin, is now available at Queen Mary and elsewhere that can automatically identify possible plagiarism.
  • Ensure that all works used are referenced appropriately in the text of your work and fully credited in your bibliography. This includes generative AI, where its use is permitted. See the Student Guide to Generative AI for more information or speak to your School.
  • If in doubt, ask for further guidance from your Advisor or module tutor.

Academic Integrity Course

All PG Law students are required to complete the Academic Integrity course by 6 November.

This course is designed to help you understand and avoid plagiarism and other forms of academic misconduct.

For further information on the policy, click here: Academic Integrity & Misconduct Policy.